Till I Kissed You
by schrodingers cat 13
Summary: A short story set in season 5, written from House's POV. What happens when House acts on an impulse without previously thinking over his decision? And what happens when he starts thinking it over afterwards? COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **_I don't think I even want it anymore. _

**A/N: **_I wrote this a while ago, but it took ages to finalise it. It's set in season 5, starting with the episode __Locked in__ and going AU after it. It's a short, fun story which means that it may be slightly OC, but not too much for my liking._

_

* * *

_**Chapter 1 **

House was leaning on the table in his office, staring at the whiteboard with the symptoms and waiting for a revelation. No luck thus far. The patient with the locked-in syndrome was proving to be one tough cookie.

Suddenly, the door to his office opened, and he heard Cameron ask, "When's the last time you changed that dressing?" while she approached him.

"Judging by the smell of it, I'd say never," she cringed as she reached him.

He glanced at her to see her laying down a medical kit. Gazing back at the whiteboard, he began musing out loud, "He's locked in, his kidneys blew a fuse . . ."

He stuck out his arm without looking away from the whiteboard, "and now his eye is oozing puss."

She began tugging on the edges of his bandage as she commented, "I assume you went over all of that with your team. I also assume they didn't have any brilliant ideas, or you wouldn't still be muttering to yourself."

"This is going to hurt," she warned him before quickly pulling off the bandage.

"Ow!" he yelped as his eyes flew to his wounded arm.

The scrape didn't look that bad and he hardly registered the burning sensation during the day. He had more important things to do.

He once again focused on the whiteboard. "The way he's losing his myelin makes an infection most likely."

He was vaguely aware of her dabbing at his scrape.

"Could be varicella . . ."

"Road debris has come to the surface. I'm going to have to scrub it out," she interrupted him, seemingly ignoring his musings.

"But the initial acyclovir would've treated that," he continued unperturbedly, "Which pushes me towards an autoimmune disease. Like Behçet's."

"Here," she gave him a paper cup with pills, "This is going to hurt even more. Take two now, two later."

He downed all four of them in one go, and mumbled an insincere "Oops," in response to her unamused stare.

Without any further notice, she immediately started scrubbing his abrasion.

"Ho!" He briefly wondered if she was that _gentle_ with all of her ER patients.

He let out a long breath before continuing the differential, "Of course, if the varicella was resistant, it wouldn't matter what they did up in Middletown."

"Do an LP," she remarked off-handedly, and he gave her a patronizing look.

"You've been in the ER too long," he taunted her, but she only smiled bemusedly at his gibe.

"When the patient had head trauma, white blood cells only indicate that he had head trauma," he added as a clarification.

"Or you could use the LP for something useful," she said as she placed a new bandage on his elbow.

"If you find polys, it's varicella. Lymphs, Behçet's," she said simply and he couldn't help but stare at her in amazement.

Why didn't he think of that? Why didn't _his team_ think of that? There were four of them and they were all completely useless. Not like in the good old days, when _she_ was still working for him.

"Why did I fire you again?"

"You didn't. I quit," she answered in that confident, sassy manner of hers.

He was instantly aware of the loss of warmth when she lifted her hands off his arm and suddenly, something clicked inside him.

He wrapped his arms around her before she had the chance to turn around, and kissed her fiercely on the mouth, and she immediately responded, and it was heaven. Her hot mouth. Her tongue brushing against his. Her hands resting high on his chest, torn between pushing him away and bringing him closer. Her fingers against his skin in the wide expanse of space created by his loosely buttoned shirt. And he thanked all gods he didn't believe in that he didn't wear a T-shirt today, and yanked her tighter against his body, and her hands slid against his skin up his neck, and he thought of things he had no right thinking.

And then the kiss ended, and he was left panting heavily against her soft, moist lips, and he could feel her warm puffs of air against his lips as well, until she pushed away from him.

She briefly caught his eyes before grabbing the medical kit and disappearing out of the door, and he was left alone and confused.

What the hell just happened? What the hell did he do just now?

He lightly touched his lips that were still tingling from the kiss. There was no way he'd be able to focus on the case now. He could only hope that Wilson was still in the hospital as he walked out of his office.

**TBC**

**

* * *

A/N:** _There's four more chapters after this one, all of which are already written, so posting them shouldn't take too long. _


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** _This story was inspired by the awesome chemistry between House and Cameron in this particular episode. They were so comfortable around each other as if they've done that on a regular basis. It looked very relationship-y, if you ask me. Another major inspiration was Everly Brothers' song "('Til) I Kissed You", which my i-Pod shuffle was very fond of at a certain point in time. It's a fun song, which hopefully lead to a fun story. _

_

* * *

_**Chapter 2**

_Never felt like this until I kissed ya  
How did I exist until I kissed ya  
Never had you on my mind  
Now you're there all the time  
Never knew what I missed 'til I kissed ya, uh-huh  
I kissed ya, oh yeah_

_~ Everly Brothers: ('Til) I Kissed You ~  
_

House walked into Wilson's office, startling the Oncologist, who was just about to leave. Without looking at his friend, he plopped down on the couch, and threw his head back over the backrest.

"I kissed Cameron," he sighed.

When he was greeted by nothing but silence, he lifted his head, and looked at Wilson. Complete and utter shock would be one way to describe the expression on his face.

"What?" Wilson finally stammered.

"I kissed Cameron," House repeated thoughtfully, as if testing the sound of the words. He kissed Cameron. . . .

"How? Why? I thought you wanted Cuddy. . . ." Wilson dropped his suitcase, and walked over to his chair, collapsing onto it.

"So did I. . . ." House hid his face in his hands.

Wilson shook his head to clear his thoughts. "How . . . What . . . How did it happen? She just let you kiss her?" Apparently, it did nothing to improve his eloquence.

"Oh yeah. She sure did. . . ." House replied with a smirk.

In answer to Wilson's stupefied expression, he tried to explain, "She was changing my bandage, and we were discussing the case. She had one somewhat interesting idea, and . . ."

"And you thought you'd reward her by kissing her."

"She didn't seem to mind all that much," House smirked.

Wilson shook his head disbelievingly. "House, you can't do this. She's happy with Chase, don't go ruining that for her. And you have a real chance with Cuddy, she'd be good for you. Don't mess this up just because Cameron is good looking, and you want to play around."

House cast his eyes down. Is that what it was? He kissed her just because he was attracted to her? He really didn't know. What he did know was that it wasn't even a matter of choice; he had to kiss her right then. He also knew that it felt good, and that he didn't regret it in the slightest.

"House," Wilson tried to shake his friend out of his reverie, "Whatever was between you and Cameron in the past is over now. Restarting it will do no one any good. You have to talk to her, tell her it was a mistake."

"Right." House stood up from the couch, and walked out without another word.

_*The next day*_

"_What the hell was wrong with him?_" thought House as he was sitting behind his desk. He was up half of the previous night, replaying the kiss over and over again like a scratchy record. Up to the point when it became a surreal mesh of reality and his fantasies. He had to struggle to keep his mind on the case during the day, and now that it was time to go home, he was afraid to go. To be alone in his apartment with nothing to distract him. . . . No, not while his mind was in this state of disarray.

He still so vividly remembered the feeling of her pliant lips, how it felt to hold her tight against him. . . .

The door opened just like the day before, and when he lifted his eyes, he saw that it was _she_ who entered.

"We need to talk," she said, and his heart skipped a beat. Why was he so nervous?

"Yesterday . . . That can't happen again," she told him in a rush of air. At least he wasn't the only one who was nervous.

"I think it would be best if we forgot it ever happened," she stated.

The thought that she must have practiced this speech in front of a mirror over and over again crossed his mind. Yeah, that sounded like her.

"And Chase agrees with that?" he inquired.

A brief look of fear flickered in her eyes before she admitted, "He doesn't know. . . . I didn't tell him."

A smirk found its way to his lips, and she hurriedly added, "You can't tell him. Please."

"Now, now, Cameron. You can't build a relationship on lies," he quipped.

She sighed desperately, "He wouldn't understand. I know that you derive some sick sort of pleasure from messing with peoples' lives, but can't you for once just let it go? Just this once?"

He was almost swayed by her words. Almost.

"What exactly is there to understand?" he asked, as he pushed himself up from his chair, and walked around the desk to face her.

He felt her distress, but he didn't care.

"It meant nothing," she said, as she met his eyes, "It was just . . . I was taken by surprise. . . ."

"Oh, is that why you didn't push me away? Why you pulled me closer?" he challenged her as he took another half step closer.

He saw, out of the corner of his eye, that her chest began to rise and fall in a much faster rhythm.

"Don't," she whispered.

He slowly raised his hand, and cupped her check. Her soft, slightly flushed cheek. Her eyes were glossed over with apprehension and her lips . . . Her lips were dark red and oh so inviting.

He took another half step closer, eliminating the distance between them, and, after lowering his head, he touched his lips to hers. For all her determined and half-determined words, she made no indication that she didn't want this.

His lips lightly brushed against hers twice, and then she responded, resting her hands against his stomach. Time stood still as they traded gentle kisses.

He placed one of his hands on her lower back, and slid the other one from her cheek, tangling it in her hair. Her hands were suddenly around his neck, and she leaned into him.

This was all he could think about the entire day, and he didn't care if her lips were pressed hard against his, her tongue ravaging his mouth, or if their lips barely touched in gentle, featherlike brushes as they did just now. He just needed her there, with him. If he had any conscious thought left, he would realise how pathetic that was.

He was still in a daze when she ended the kiss. She didn't look at him when she pushed him away none too gently, and he grabbed the edge of his desk to stop himself from falling. When he looked in her direction again, he saw that she all but ran out of his office.

He was still clutching the desk when the reality of the situation hit him full force. This was not supposed to happen. He was supposed to leave it as a one time thing, a silly mistake. She even gave him an out.

He had no idea what he was doing anymore. He almost dreaded facing Wilson now. Good thing that he already went home. But tomorrow. . . . Not to mention that he still had a long night ahead of him, one that would without a doubt be filled with thoughts of her.

* * *

**A/N:** _The next chapter is pretty short (aww, I know), and will be up sometime next week. Meanwhile, I will hopefully be able to start working on the next instalment for Until Death Do Us Part._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_I did warn you that it will be short. Oh, and don't be too harsh on the poor Wilson, he was brainwashed. Besides, he shall see the light. _

_

* * *

_**Chapter 3 **

The case had been solved, and it wasn't even he who found the answer. _Gee, I wonder why._

House was slumped in his recliner, trying to find some sense in the mess that was his life. Naturally, Wilson had to come in at that exact moment.

"Well?" he prompted him.

"Well, what?" House feigned innocence.

"Well, did you talk to her?" Spoken firmly with a hint of impatience, his arms akimbo and legs slightly parted - the trademark Wilson Boy Wonder pose.

"She . . . came to see me yesterday." Was there any chance that Wilson would leave it at that? No, he supposed there wasn't.

"And. . . ?" Right on cue.

"We kissed again." Here we go. Wait for it, wait for it . . .

"What?" Wilson yelled, and House cringed at the loud sound.

"You spent the last year or so chasing Cuddy. You were obsessed with her, and then you go and kiss Cameron. Twice. How is that even possible?" Wilson demanded.

"Slip of the tongue?" House supplied innocently.

Wilson gave him an I'm-not-amused stare. "Twice?"

House shrugged. "It happens."

"She's hot," he added as an afterthought.

"Do you want to be with her?"

He opened his mouth to tell his friend that that was the last thing on his mind, but nothing came out. He tried again, but the words seemed to be stuck somewhere. He frowned and closed his mouth.

"Do you?" Wilson repeated, now more seriously.

"I don't. . . ." Ah, here we go. "That would be a bad idea."

Wilson appeared satisfied with that answer. "She loves Chase. She's happy with him. I wouldn't even be surprised if they got married in the near future."

Yeah, there was that. . . .

"You shouldn't jerk her around."

Was that what he was doing? It didn't feel quite like it. In fact, it felt more like she was jerking him around.

"You're just freaking out because of your feelings for Cuddy. That's natural, but don't do something you'll regret later. Talk to Cuddy, tell her how you feel about her."

Got that. If only he knew. He was notoriously bad when it came to feelings, but this time, it really was all in a mist.

"House? Are you listening?"

He looked at his friend and nodded. "Of course."

"Why don't I believe you?" Wilson sighed. "Just think about what I said. Don't ruin a good thing . . . two good things, because . . . well, because that's what you do."

Wilson may well have had good intentions, but House was still as lost as he had been before the Oncologist's visit.

* * *

**A/N: **_Two chapters left, both slightly longer. The next one will probably be up early next week. _


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

House stood on the balcony overlooking the lobby. He did that sometimes when he needed a different perspective, literally. Watching people from above made him feel powerful, omniscient, like God. It also made it easy to throw grapes on them without being noticed, but that was beside the point.

This time he was up there to clear his head, but it seemed the Fates had a different idea. Cuddy was there, talking to a nurse. He kept his eyes on her, studying her every move, trying to discern what he was feeling. He didn't usually do that, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He wouldn't be able to do any work as long as his mind felt like a well-shaken bottle of beer.

And then Chase and Cameron marched along. Chase didn't seem all that happy. Neither did Cameron. His eyes flicked to Cuddy and the nurse for a moment, but somehow he was drawn back to Cameron and Chase, who was gesticulating angrily on his way to the elevator. Cameron was trying hard to keep his fast pace, seemingly placating him. Why are you even bothering, House thought to himself. What was she doing with that idiot anyway? He was about as interesting as an old torn sock lying at the bottom of your drawer, about as useful too.

The elevator doors closed behind them, and his eyes drifted back to where Cuddy stood. She was no longer there.

_**# # #**_

Wilson had been looking for House in the entire hospital until he finally tracked him down in the ER. And when he did, he couldn't quite believe his own eyes.

House was leaning against a wall in a secluded corner of the ER with the most forlorn expression on his face that Wilson had ever seen before on his friend. When he followed his eyesight, sure enough, there was Cameron bandaging a patient's arm.

He was looking for House to ask him whether he had already told Cameron to let it go, but seeing him like this, he felt doubt creep in as to whether that had truly been the best advice. House didn't even flinch when he approached him, and Wilson wondered if he had even noticed him as he inquired, "So, did you talk to her?"

"She's avoiding me," House murmured, not taking his eyes off Cameron.

"So you decided to stalk her?"

"She knows I'm here."

"Oh? What makes you think that?" He was honestly curious as to what insane theory House concocted now.

"I've been here for half an hour and she hasn't looked in this direction. Not even once and she practically looked everywhere else."

"Then why are you still here?"

This was the first time House looked away from Cameron. He gave Wilson one of his patented condescending looks and explained, "I can't let her know that I know that she knows that I'm watching her."

Wilson quickly did some mental arithmetic, trying to make heads or tails of House's statement. "You'd rather let her know that you're stalking her? What if she really hasn't noticed you yet?"

"She has," House answered confidently.

"So, you want her to think that you're here willingly? That might make her believe you're interested in her."

"Not unless she knows that I know that she knows. That's why I have to stay here. If she doesn't know that I know, then she'll just think I'm here because I have some secret agenda."

Wilson shook his head in bewilderment. "Uh huh, and if she sees you with that desperate expression on your face, staring dreamily at her for hours, she certainly won't think it's because you have feelings for her and simply can't stay away from her."

House's mouth dropped slightly open and his eyes widened. He hadn't thought of that. Why hadn't he thought of that?

He limped away as quickly as possible, leaving behind a confused Wilson.

* * *

**A/N: **_One more to go. _


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **_Here we go. I present to you the last chapter. _

_

* * *

_**Chapter 5**

House was walking towards the locker room. He'd made up his mind. Or so he thought. He didn't exactly know if it was a good idea. He didn't know what was a good idea at that point, but he had a plan. Well, not a plan, but more of a general idea. Not even that, just a feeling. And he had to act on it now, before he lost his nerve.

He pushed open the door, but not before making sure that the night janitor he bribed was indeed in front of the door, guarding it. It was late, but he didn't want to take any chances.

Entering the room, he saw her sitting on the bench, putting on her shoes. He froze, suddenly unsure how to proceed, but he didn't have to dwell on that for long since she soon lifted her eyes and noticed him. She straightened herself, a perfect image of resignation.

"What do you want?" she asked tiredly.

That was the question, wasn't it? "You told him?" he inquired.

"There's nothing to tell," she said despondently while rolling down her pant leg and standing up.

"Just the fact that you can't keep your hands off me." He still hadn't moved from that spot in front of the door.

She stopped rummaging inside her locker and turned around angrily. "_You_ kissed _me_. Both times."

"And you kissed back. Both times."

He still remembered the moment when he first felt the sensation of her lips against his all those years ago. It was her pushing him that time. He wondered how the roles could get reversed just like that. Everything was tangled up.

"I love Chase and I don't want to lose him because of some silly mistake." She was serious. Or was she?

He felt a tang of hurt when she spoke those words. He shouldn't care. But he did.

He walked over to her, and she instinctively took a step backwards, hitting the lockers with a thud.

When he was face to face with her, he asked her, "_Do_ you love him?"

"Of course I do. Why would I be with him if I didn't?" she defended vehemently.

"Then why did you let me kiss you?" he asked as he placed his hands against the lockers on each side of her body. She was trapped.

"Please," she whispered.

He lowered his head closer to hers, his breath fanning her face. "Please what?"

She kept quiet as he kissed her, and as she kissed him back tenderly.

Soon, he moved away. Too soon. He was resting his forehead against hers when she asked him, "Why now?"

He leaned back to look at her face. She was still pleading. For what? For him to leave her alone and forget about this, or to tell her that. . . .

"Why do you want me now?" she asked him earnestly.

"I've always wanted you." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

The look of hope in her eyes. . . . Time to come clean.

"I just . . ." He looked away, trying to formulate the words in his mind. How did he get himself into this situation? Talking about feelings.

"It wouldn't have worked," he told her as he caught her gaze again. "I knew I'd have only one chance with you, and when I'd blown it, that would be it. You'd leave, and I'd lose you. I couldn't let that happen, even if it meant keeping you at an arm's length all this time."

"What if it worked?" she breathed.

Her arms were now encircling his waist. He didn't even know when she moved them.

"It wouldn't."

He saw that she was about to object, so he hurried on, "I know myself. And I know you. I wasn't ready back then, but I'm ready now. I'm willing to commit."

He met her gaze dead on. She had to know that he was serious.

She moved her hands on his back slightly. He felt the smallest amount of pressure and he willingly moved just that much closer, resting his hands on her hips. His heart was beating out of his chest. If she said no. . . .

Time seemed to stand still as he waited for her answer. He knew that tormented expression on her face. Knew it all too well. Finally she closed her eyes with a sigh and rested her forehead against his chest.

He carefully slid his hands around her back, pulling her as close as possible.

"Is that a yes?" he asked tentatively.

He felt her nod against his chest before she answered, "Yes."

Relief washed over his body, and for the first time in a very long while, he felt hopeful for the future. Finally she was his, he thought as he rested his head in the crook of her neck.

**The End**

**

* * *

****A/N: **_For those of you who are also following __Until Death Do Us Part__. . . . You might have to wait a while for the next chapter. It's been half written for a while, but unfortunately, I have to write a rather important paper till next week, so that's my current priority._


End file.
